Having Faith
by Pink Mockingjay in Hufflepuff
Summary: It's Lucas' little girl's big day, but they're missing someone important. *Now a collection of snippet-of-life oneshots.*
1. Missing Mommy

**_This is my first GMW story and I'm sorry it's so sad, but the idea wouldn't leave me alone. I cried a bunch writing this. Enjoy._**

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Lucas Friar made his way down the aisle of the auditorium until he found a good seat in the second row right in the center.

He thought that maybe they were coming a little too early, but he'd rather be early than late. He wasn't the only parent with that idea either, so she had given him her jacket and teddy bear, hugged him tight, and bounded off towards her teacher, her dance bag on her shoulder and her little tutu flouncing.

He couldn't believe she was so big. It seemed like it was just yesterday that he had held her for the first time but here she was, heading to kindergarten in the fall.

This was her first dance recital. She was so excited to finally wear a pretty costume and dance with all her friends on stage 'like a big girl' (at Christmas time, the older students at her dance school had but on a show but the three to four year old class was not involved. They did, however, have a little show for the parents instead of class one day). Dancing made her so happy. He was glad she loved it so much.

He put her jacket and bear in a seat to save it for Farkle and sat beside it. Farkle was the only one of his friends able to attend as everyone else had some sort of conflict. They were devastated but Farkle was bringing a nice camera to film it so they could all see it.

Lucas looked at the program be had been given. Spring Into Dance! was apparently the theme of the recital and it was printed in bold curly letters on the cover along side flowers and butterflies. He opened the book and after a page of thank yous started the listing of classes and the songs they would be dancing to. It went by age, thankfully. His daughter's class was second in the book, following the littlest dancers that came out with their moms.

He skimmed down the "Little Stars- Ballet: ages 3-4" page until he found his daughter. Faith Friar. He smiled. What a little star she was indeed.

Faith was adorable, enthusiastic, and passionate. She loved with her whole heart. And she was so smart, it amazed him. She was curious. She was silly. She was sweet. She was everything he had hoped for in a child and more.

He took a picture of her name in the program on his phone. He was certain the program would be put in her memory box but he wanted to keep it, at least a picture, forever too. This was a big day for his baby girl.

He flipped through the program just to see what the other classes would be performing and how old the oldest students were. If Faith liked it, she could stay in dance at that school until she was a senior in high school, which seemed such a long way a way but he knew she would be that big in a moment. There was still plenty of time left before the recital started, so Lucas checked his phone.

Slowly, more people began to trickle into the auditorium and the noise level grew. More people filled in the second row.

"Hey," a voice said, making Lucas look up. It was Farkle, holding a video camera and a little bouquet of daisies.

"Hey," Lucas replied, pulling Faith's jacket and bear into his lap so his friend could sit. "Faith is going to be so excited you came."

"I wouldn't miss it." Farkle replied with a smile, sitting down. He held up the bouquet of yellow flowers. "Does Faith like daisies?"

Lucas chuckled. "I don't know, I think she's a little too young to have a favorite flower. She likes them all."

"So she'll like this?"

"Yup." Lucas promised.

"Good,"

"Farkle, you are the first boy to ever get my girl flowers." Lucas pointed out.

"It's an honor." Farkle told him. "Didn't you get her flowers?"

"I was going to, but then I saw this. It'll last a lot longer." he reached into his pocket and pulled out a little box and opened it. It was a silver ballet slipper necklace with tiny pink gems on the center of each shoe.

"She's going to love that." Faith loved sparkles. There was glitter all over Lucas' apartment in quantities unimaginable just from her toys and clothes. She also loved pink.

"I hope so," Lucas replied, slipping the box back into his pocket. "It kind of reminded me of something she might have gotten from..." he took a deep breath. "Her mom."

Farkle smiled sadly. "You know she'd be right next to you, so excited to see her dance."

Lucas nodded. She would have been, if she were able to.

Almost five years ago, Faith was born in the middle of June and it had been one of the happiest days in her parents' lives. Everything happened as it was supposed to and both mother and baby were totally healthy. Faith came home the day after being born. Her parents loved her to death. Having a little princess of their own was magical and amazing and everything was right with the world.

Until Faith's mother got sick a few weeks later.

The doctors said not to worry, that it was a cold or the flu and it would pass. And they listened. But one day, her fever spiked scarily high and she wasn't acting right and Lucas could think only to take her to the emergency room. After testing for everything under the sun, it turned out she had caught some sort of infection after Faith was born and it had been missed. They started treating her for it right away, but it had been so long, they weren't sure how much good it would do.

She wasn't contagious, so Lucas could stay with her and she could snuggle her daughter. After two days, she had become weaker and she started saying things that scared Lucas to death.

"You take good care of my baby, okay?"

"I'll love you forever. Never forger that."

"Tell Faith everyday how much I love her."

"Please don't cry. Everything will be okay."

She asked to see Faith again, so her mother brought her up to the hospital. She whispered lots of things to her that no one else could hear. She kissed her and hugged her and told her she loved her.

Later that day, only after she made a very shattered Lucas promise her that Faith would get to grow up in New York, she took her last breath.

Lucas had been devastated. Everyone was. He couldn't remember anything about the funeral or even what kind of infection she had. He didn't want to remember. He wanted to remember her just as she was in life. Not sick. Just, full of life.

Lucas looked down at his lap.

"You know she'd be shoving a picture of Faith in her tutu at everyone, so proud of her." Farkle said, to try and make light of the moment.

Lucas laughed a little.

"She'd be proud of you too." Farkle said quietly. "I know she would."

Lucas fiddled with the zipper on Faith's little jacket. Farkle dropped it.

The lights dimmed suddenly, as the show was about to start.

Nearly every seat in the little auditorium was filled, yet for some reason, the seat on Lucas' other side remained empty.

Faith's class came on about halfway through. They were in little fairy costumes dancing to some song from one of the animated movies she liked. Lucas recognized the song as one his little girl sang around the house.

Faith was fifth in from the left of twelve little dancers. She knew the steps, and it showed, albeit a little clumsily. Some of the little girls seemed to have no idea what they were doing. The girl to Faith's right was following Faith's movements.

The smile on Faith's face as she pointed her toes and twirled around and skipped was genuine. She was having so much fun up there. Her happiness was contagious.

At the end of the song, the audience clapped as they did following every performance, but he and Farkle both stood up to cheer for her. She had done an incredible job and they wanted her to know they were there.

Faith saw them both and waved, making a few people chuckle, before curtseying and walking off stage with her class.

After the recital was over, Lucas and Farkle waited near where Lucas had dropped Faith off for her. A bunch of other families were waiting for their kids too.

"Daddy!" Faith cried happily, running towards Lucas.

"Faith!" Lucas said, catching her and picking her up. "You did such an amazing job, Princess! I'm so proud of you! You danced beautifully!"

She giggled cutely and hugged him around his neck.

"You looked like you were having so much fun."

Faith looked at him. "I was, Daddy! I love to dance!"

"I'm glad, baby girl."

Faith grinned at him again before looking at Farkle. "Uncle Farkle you came!"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world, peanut." Farkle replied. He held out the flowers to her. "These are for you because you are one incredible little dancer."

She took them. "They're pretty! Thank you!"

"You're welcome." Farkle replied. "And don't worry, I filmed your dance so you can show everyone."

"Thank you!" Faith repeated.

"I was going to get you flowers too, but I didn't." Lucas told Faith. "But I did get you something. I'm going to put you down so I can show you, okay?"

Faith nodded and Lucas put her on her feet, giving her enough time to hug her uncle Farkle, which he returned.

He pulled out the necklace box and crouched in front of her. "A beautiful ballerina deserves a beautiful necklace." he said as he opened it.

Faith's eyes widened. "Is it mine, Daddy?"

"It's all yours, Princess."

Faith bounced up onto her toes before launching herself into her father's arms. "Thank you, Daddy!"

Lucas hugged her tight. "You're welcome, Faith. I love you so much."

"I love you too, Daddy!"

"Would you like to put it on?" Lucas asked her.

She nodded, so he put it on for her. She was beaming.

"Can I take a picture of you, Faith?"

She nodded, so Lucas pulled out his phone. "Smile,"

Faith smiled just like her mother. It hurt him a little every time he saw it, but it was also one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen.

Farkle took a picture of Lucas and Faith together and then it was time to go.

Lucas zipped up Faith's jacket and handed her back her bear and after saying goodbye to Farkle,they started for home.

After a snack and a bath, Lucas was tucking Faith into bed. She was rather tired.

"You did such a great job today. I am so proud of you." he told her for the ten thousandth time. "You danced in front of all those people and you had so much fun."

Faith smiled, but then glanced down at the bear in her arms. The bear was the one her mother had picked out for her before she was born. Unlike her other stuffed animals, the bear didn't have a name. It was always The Bear or My Bear or Mommy's Bear. But never a name. She never let that toy out of her sight. It meant a lot to her.

"Daddy?"

"Yes?"

"Would... Mommy be proud of me too?" the innocence and uncertainty in her voice broke his heart.

"She would be so proud of you." Lucas assured her. "She'd be proud of you every day, just like I am, but especially tonight. You danced beautifully."

Faith still looked a little unsure, so he continued. "Mommy loved you more than anything else in the whole world, Faith. You were everything to her. She would be so happy that you love to dance and so proud of you for dancing on that stage tonight."

"Does Mommy know I love her?"

Lucas tucked a a piece of hair behind her ear. "Yes, I know she does."

Faith smiled and lay down on her pillow, her bear tucked under her chin. "I love you, Daddy."

"I love you too, Princess." he kissed her on her head. "Good night."

"Night," she replied.

He turned left the room, leaving the door open a crack.

He wandered into the living room of their apartment.

There was a toy box in the corner and a little flowered book bag beside the door. There were flecks of glitter on the rug and scribbly artwork taped on the fridge.

There was the only picture of the three of them all together on the mantle. It had been taken the day Faith came home. He never moved it.

He walked up to it and ran his finger lightly over the image of his wife, smiling sadly.

"This is hard." he said aloud in a whisper. "Being a dad is hard. Doing it without you is even harder. But Faith, Faith and that smile of hers makes everything okay. Every day she looks more and more like you... We miss you, sweetheart. I miss you."

He started at the picture for a moment longer before sitting on the couch and turning on the tv. He stumbled across a rerun of his wife's favorite show and decided to watch it, at least for a few moments. He swore they pulled that show totally off the air a year or two ago, though.

Being a single dad was the hardest thing he had ever had to do, but had faith that everything would work out just fine.

And he also had his Faith, and that made everything better.

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 _ **I left Faith's mother ambiguous on purpose. Who do you think her mom is? Id love to hear your thoughts!**_

 _ **Please review and thanks for reading! I will definitely be writing more for this fandom!**_


	2. Faith Meets City

_**You'll be happy to know I'm all caught up with GMW now, but college makes it hard to find the free time to write. I found some though, so I'm b**_ _ **ack with Part 2!**_

 _ **Thanks for all the reviews on the first part!**_

 _ **Enjoy this one! :)**_

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Faith buttoned her sweater with all the determination of an over-excited kindergartner with clumsy fingers.

She was much too excited to stop bouncing. Today was what her daddy called "Faith and Daddy Date Day". It was just a day for the two of them to spend together without any worries of being interrupted or distracted. They usually had a date day every month or so and they had become even more important to the both of them since she started school.

They usually went to some little museum or spot outside the main threshold of New York City. Faith was under the impression that it was because her father knew she was wary and timid around large crowds. That was certainly part of it, but not the whole story. Lucas had been keeping them out of the major hustle and bustle of Greenwich Village and the heart of NYC as much as he could because it pained him to wander the city his wife had loved so much without her with him. One of her final wishes was to keep Faith in New York, let her grow in the city that never slept and teach her all about it. He had been failing her. That would all end today.

He kept Faith's adventures to Central Park and Times Square few and short, using her limited attention span and eagerness to please people against her in a selfishly cruel way. She had never been allowed to play at any of the playgrounds in Central Park longer than fifteen minutes or so. He knew that was all Faith wanted, but her sweet disposition and dislike of making anyone the slightest bit unhappy prevented her from throwing a fit when he came to tell her it was time to go after they just arrived. It was mean of him to dangle such a simple childhood pleasure in front of his own daughter, let her touch it, and then yank it from her hands knowing she would never put up a fight. He hated himself for it.

But that was all going to change today.

He had promised Faith a day long adventure in Central Park and Times Square with soft pretzels and ice cream and playgrounds and the M&Ms store and the Disney store. She was over the moon. She simply couldn't wait to explore her city.

Lucas rounded the corner of the hallway, his jacket in hand and he paused a moment in front of the photograph on the mantle and smiled at the sight of his late wife. _Today's the day. I'm sorry it took so long._

He put his jacket on as he walked over to his little girl. "Are you ready, Princess?"

Faith looked up at him, beaming. "Yes!"

He chuckled at both her enthusiasm and the fact that the buttons on her sweater were done up all wrong. She was still learning. "I'm glad. Can I fix your sweater, though?"

Faith blushed a little when she glanced down at her sweater and nodded."I did it wrong."

"Aw, that's okay," Lucas said as he knelt down to fix the buttons. "I still get the buttons wrong on my shirts sometimes."

"You do?" Faith asked, surprised.

Lucas nodded. "Buttons are tricky business for everyone."

"When are we leaving?" Faith asked her father curiously. Her embarrassment was nonexistent now.

Lucas buttoned the final button on her sweater and looked to Faith. Her eyes were glinting in excitement, her little mouth curved into a sweet, hopeful smile. She looked so much like her mother in that moment. "Right now, if you're ready."

"I'm ready," Faith replied excitedly.

"Are you sure?" Lucas questioned.

Faith nodded. She had her purse with a whole ten dollars in it from her Grandma and Grandpa, her sweater was all buttoned up, she had her shoes on the right feet, and she had on her special ballerina necklace. She even put on her warm tights on (all by herself even). She brushed her teeth. What else could she need?

"Did you go to the bathroom?" Lucas asked, knowing she didn't.

A look of realization crossed Faith's face. She should probably do that. She went down the hall without saying a single word.

Lucas laughed a little. Faith cracked him up.

She returned a few moments later clutching her bear tight to her chest. "I washed my hands." She announced. "And I almost forgot my bear."

"Are we all good now?"

Faith nodded.

"Alright then, shall we?" Lucas swung his arm to the door dramtically. Faith twisted the doorknob. Lucas held it open and bowed a little. "After you, Your Highness."

Faith giggled and all but skipped out of the door into the hallway. Lucas came out and locked the door behind them. Faith took his hand and together they headed to the end of the hall where the stairs were. Their hallway always smelled of vanilla. One of the ladies at the end of the hall liked to make cookies. It was nice. Sometimes she made extra for Lucas and Faith.

They lived on the eighth floor and Faith loved to time how long it took them to get to the bottom. Lucas wasn't sure why, but he appreciated her enthusiasm. He only had one rule: no running.

Lucas took out his phone and opened the timer app when they reached the top of the stairs. "Tell me when."

"Go!" Faith cheered as they stepped onto the first step. Lucas pressed 'start'.

Just as Faith stepped onto the ground, she asked "Did we beat our time, Daddy?"

"By ten seconds." Lucas replied with a smile.

"Yay!"

Lucas smiled as he pushed open the door leading into the small lobby. "Should we try to beat it again tomorrow?"

"Mhm," Faith agreed, beaming.

"Good morning, Lucas and Faith." said a cheerful voice. The little family of two looked towards the elevator to see Mrs. Henderson, a woman of around 60 who was a frequent babysitter of Faith and one of their favorite neighbors. Her husband had passed away a few years back and her children all moved west. She had a soft spot for Faith and Lucas. "Where are you off to so early this morning?"

"Daddy is taking me to Times Square today! And maybe even Central Park!" Faith said, bouncing up onto her toes.

"Oh my, how exciting." Mrs. Henderson replied warmly, looking from Faith to Lucas and back to Faith. "You two have a good time, okay? I want to hear all about it tomorrow, alright? I want pictures, Lucas."

"Okay!" Faith agreed.

"Have a nice day, Mrs. Henderson." Lucas told the woman.

"Thank you dear, you too. Bye-bye, Faith!"

"Bye!"

Mrs. Henderson smiled at the dad and daughter duo before heading to collect her mail.

"Let's go, Daddy!"

Lucas chuckled and they headed toward the streets of New York together.

* * *

Lucas couldn't believe how much Faith resembled her mother as they headed towards the subway station. She had a bounce in her step that was adorable and her enthusiasm was contagious. They descended the steps of the subway station and Lucas swiped his pass. Faith was free. She had been on the subway plenty of times, but never to Times Square. She was so excited.

There was a young man sitting on a bench playing guitar and his friend was singing the old Frank Sinatra song that they played after the ball dropped each year on New Year's Eve. Lucas smiled and lifted his hand that was holding Faith's, an invitation for her to twirl. She did, giggiling. He then picked her up and and danced with her, she started to laugh. Her laugh was the most precious thing in the world. He would be extra silly for the rest of his life if he could hear that laugh every waking moment.

When the song ended, Lucas dropped a five dollar bill in the boy's guitar case.

The boys thanked him.

Soon, the train pulled into the station and Lucas kept Faith in his arms so she wouldn't be trampled.

The doors slid open and a sea of people came off, and then a sea of people came in. Lucas found a seat and plopped Faith next to him. She crossed her ankles like a little lady and smiled up at him. Lucas kissed the top of her head, feeling surprisingly emotional. This was a big day for his little princess.

As the train pulled out of the station, Lucas took Faith's hand and squeeed it. "You know what, Faithy?"

"What?"

"You remind me a lot of your mommy."

Faith smiled brightly. "I do?"

"You do. And she loved the city."

Faith stroked the fur on her bear's head. "Will I?"

"I sure hope so... you know, I met Mommy on a subway."

"You did?"

Lucas nodded, trying not to get choked up. "Your Auntie Maya more or less pushed her into my lap when we were in middle school."

Faith giggled. "Silly Auntie Maya,"

"Without that day, you wouldn't be here... and I don't know what I'd do with myself." Lucas let go of her hand to hug her close to his side. "I'm glad we're going into Times Square today."

"Me too, Daddy." Faith leaned into him.

Eventually, they reached their stop and Lucas lifted Faith into his arms. The exited the train and ascended the stairs to the street. A few steps before the top, Lucas put his daughter on her feet. You could already hear the hustle and bustle. He looked down at her. "Ready?"

Faith took his hand and smiled up at him. "Ready."

They climbed the last few stairs to reach the street and Faith gasped.

"It's beautiful!" Faith shrieked. She was smiling from ear to ear.

Lucas squeezed her hand. Her curly brown hair was blowing in the breeze into her face and she pushed it back, bear in hand. Her floral dress was blowing a bit too. She was up on her toes in anticipation. She looked so much like Riley. He smiled, albeit a little sadly.

"Let's go explore." Lucas suggested. Faith nodded and they wandered down the street together.

 _World, meet Faith. Faith, meet world. It's big and scary someimes, but I'll always be right here._

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 ** _A/N: Faith's mother is Riley! So many of you guessed right! I'm impressed!_**

 ** _Please tell me your thoughts on this chapter! I have a lot more snippets of Lucas' life with Faith planned, should I write them? Do you have any suggestions about what I should write?_**

 ** _I hope you enjoyed! Please review! :)_**


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